By Your Side
by catlover5040
Summary: Something I came up with for the Yin/Yang trilogy. The first part is from Juliet's POV and the second is from Lassiter's. It's a one-shot, short and sweet, and takes place during Mr. Yin Presents. Please read and review!


"What I can't figure out," Lassiter was saying, "is how Yin always manages to stay two steps ahead of us at all times, how we're never, or just barely, in time to save his victims."

"Yin is a genius," I reminded him. "A criminal genius, yes, but a genius nonetheless."

"Yes, O'Hara, that's exactly my point!" Lassiter pounded his desk fiercely. "Yin _is _a genius, but _how does he do it? _He manages to make a fool of every degree of justice, while in the meantime enjoying his little game! He breezes in, kidnaps and murders innocent civilians, he even gives us straightforward clues as to what he's doing next, but _he never gets caught!"_

Lassiter seemed really nettled about the entire Yin/Yang situation. Sure, everyone at the station was working in super accelerated mode, moving heaven and earth to find Yin or save his next victim, but Lassiter seemed really bothered. It seemed like there was something he wasn't telling me.

"Carlton, what's bothering you?" I asked him.

He looked at me appraisingly, with one eyebrow half-raised. "Besides the fact that there's a serial killer on the loose and I can't find him? Really, O'Hara?"

I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder. "What I mean is that you seem a little- well, a lot -more stressed out than usual."

He looked me in the eye, and when I looked back at him I saw, at a glance, how stressed out he was, and had been, over the last few days. When I looked at him, I didn't see a gruff, uptight detective who was obsessed with the case- I saw a gentle, concerned, but also stressed man who just wanted to solve the case and be done with the whole nightmare. When we had realized that the game had started all over again, he had been really upset. It wasn't like him, and I knew something was up.

He closed his eyes and looked fixedly away from me. "Listen closely, O'Hara, because I'm probably never going to say it again.

I nodded, taking in his every word. "Go on," I said slowly.

"The last time Yang murdered someone was nineteen years ago," he said. "And as I'm sure you know, the detective who went up against her failed. That detective was severely injured, nearly lost his job, and because of that detective an innocent teenage girl died. That detective was me.

My hand flew to my mouth. So this was what this was all about. "Tell me more," I insisted.

"The girl's name was Amanda Ross. She was sixteen, and I don't know why Yang chose her. The clues were there, just like this time, but I wasn't able to piece them together. Not in time, anyway. I arrived and the girl was dead. Yang was there; I fired my gun at her and it ricocheted back at me. It left this scar." He pulled up his left sleeve and revealed a scar resembling the Yin/Yang symbol. "It stands as a reminder of how terribly I failed. Now we've got Yang behind bars, but I'm still worried. We're vulnerable, O'Hara." He looked at me, and I had never seen him look so depressed before. "I don't know what I'm going to do."  
I threw my arms around him. "You're going to be fine. We're in this together, partner." I closed my eyes and hung onto him.

"Detective Lassiter! Detective O'Hara!" I heard Buzz's voice and pulled away from Lassiter. "Yin sent another clue. The Chief wants to see you ASAP."

Lassiter and I exchanged glances, and I gave his hand an encouraging squeeze as we went to the Chief's office.

"Oh, good, you're here," the Chief said. Shawn and Gus were already there. I sat down next to Lassiter.

"Yin has cast you all as archetypal characters from Hitchcock's canon," Chief Vick told us, flipping through pictures on a projector. "He's created his own movie set- so to speak -to give us clues to his next murder."

"Seriously?" Lassiter leaned back in his chair, exasperated. "We're supposed to go play dress up all night?"

Everyone looked at the Chief to see how she would react to this. She said very calmly, "Yin is giving us another chance before he kills again, Detective. This could very possibly lead us to his next kidnapping."

Lassiter grumbled something, but I knew he was just worried. I knew he didn't want to be dawdling when Yin was out there. I smiled at him encouragingly, but he simply stared at a wall.

Just then, Henry came in. "I came as soon as I got your call, Karen," he said breathlessly. "What can I do?"

"He's called you out as well, Henry," the Chief said, showing us another picture on the projector.

You can say no, Dad," Shawn said unexpectedly. We all looked at him. "You don't have to do this."

"Shawn, the last time this happened your life was put on the line and we almost lost your mother," Henry said stubbornly. "I'm going to be right by your side, son."

I reached over and touched Lassiter's hand, my way of telling him, _And I'll be right by yours._

* * *

"I'm fine, I told you already, leave me alone!" a shrill voice rang out. I knew it was O'Hara. I could tell she was severely traumatized, but she had been refusing to admit it.

I came up behind her and the EMT while she still insisted that she was absolutely fine, her voice getting higher and higher with every second.

"Leave her alone," I said, practically lifting the EMT out of the way.

"Detective, she could possibly be in shock," he said. "We need to take her to-"

"Get out of here," I growled. He nodded and walked off, finally giving up.

I heard O'Hara take a deep, shuddering breath. "Carlton, I'm fine. I just need to-

"You're not fine," I said, and putting a hand on her shoulder when she started shaking.

"I'm fine," she insisted, "just leave me-"

"It's fine not to be okay," I said quietly, and then she crumbled. Without really thinking, I pulled her towards me and told her in a soothing voice that everything was going to be okay. I held her gently and whispered, "You don't need to ever worry, Juliet. I'm always going to be there for you. I'm always going to be by your side."


End file.
